


Sully

by distortedrain



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, Introspection, Sad, Songfic, Sully's Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 19:59:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10043789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/distortedrain/pseuds/distortedrain
Summary: The progression of time as seen through Sully's eyes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to [Tumblr](http://distortedrain.tumblr.com/post/157848037414/sully-supernatural) for SPN Song Creations Challenge prompt, "Sully." 
> 
> No copyright infringement intented.
> 
> Un-beta'd.

It was the summer of 1992 when Sully first came to Sam Winchester. He had done his background research: the kid had just turned nine, and it had been less than a year since he had found out the true circumstances around his mother’s death. Now, the youngest Winchester was determined to accompany his obsessed father and older brother on hunting trips, but more often than not, his family had only just left him behind in a motel room while they took care of the big-bads. 

Sully wouldn’t say the kid was straggly looking, not really, but he was definitely messy. His clothes hung off his body as though when he had gone shopping, they had run out of every size less than extra-large. His hair was shaggy and badly cut, as though he had never been to a proper hairdresser. If Sully thought about it, it was probably Dean who had cut Sam’s hair. He was thin, too. Not unhealthily so, but he was definitely below the average weight for his height. Moving around so much and not getting paid for their strenuous job probably left the Winchesters with little money, which explained Sam’s slightly underfed appearance. 

It wasn’t Sully’s job to assuage him from the hunting path; it was only to keep him happy and safe, at least for the time being. Regardless, that was what Sully found himself doing, most of the time, guiding their conversations away from Sam’s family and towards silly fantasies and sometimes even—well—only when Sully got brave, the possibility of Sam leaving his family behind, pursuing his dreams, an education, a normal life. 

Dean had called Sam. He was still in Milwaukee, taking care of a case. Sam had been hoping to be called over to take care of it—it would have been his first hunt. But he wasn’t ready. At least, Sam’s dad hadn’t thought so, and neither had Dean. Sully hadn’t either, but he kept that thought a secret. Besides, Dean’s reasoning had been flawed. Just because Sammy had an imaginary friend (who wasn’t actually imaginary) didn’t mean that he wasn’t ready for his first hunt. That wasn’t a valid reason. There were other things, like how Sam probably didn’t know how to handle a gun, or fend off a monster with sheer strength. It was inexperience, lack of training, that made Sully doubt. And also because Sam didn’t really act like he wanted to hunt unless he was talking to his family. 

When Sam dejectedly hung the phone up, Sully took it upon himself to make the kid happy again. It was, after all, as a zanna, his job. 

A few days later, at midday, they were hanging off their respective beds, playing their favourite game, “Ever Think.” The rules were quite simple: one player had the say “ever think,” and then suggest a wildly absurd fantasy, and perhaps tag a little anecdote on at the end. 

“Every think. . .about running away?” Sam asked.

“From you? No way!” the zanna grinned.

“No, I mean—from here. All this. The hunting life.”

Sully was surprised, and the smile faded off of his face, though he recomposed himself quickly enough, masking his shock with all the confidence he could muster. 

“Do you?”

The youngest Winchester nodded. Sully could never say that he had expected that. Perhaps his subtle hinting had wormed its way into Sam’s head. But Sully had a feeling that Sam had never wanted the hunting life in the first place. How could he, when all it consisted of was being left behind all the time, and his family coming back with cuts and bruises and broken bones and stories of near-death experiences (“Man, I’m telling you, Sammy. This one time, a vamp threw me so hard that I think I died for about two seconds,” and “Sammy, don’t ever piss a werewolf off because if you do? That werewolf will gouge you out and you’ll bleed to death. Check out this scar right here.”)? 

Sully hummed. “Every think. . .that maybe you wanna go to school? Make some friends?”  
“But I have you,” Sam said.

Oh, how Sully hated to be the bringer of bad news. “Yeah, you do,” he replied. “But one day you won’t, Sam. I want you to listen to me. You can be whatever you wanna be. You’re not Dean, you’re not your dad. You’re Sam. And Sam is _so awesome_.” 

“Can you imagine? Running away? My dad would _kill_ me.”

“Well, it’s your choice, Sam. It’s your life—I mean it’s all up to you.” 

“Okay,” Sam said. 

“Okay?”

“Let’s go!” 

It was not long after that conversation that Sam got that fateful phone call from his dad, the one that made Sam fall off the tightrope that he’d been balancing on, that fine line between wanting to hunt and wanting to leave. It broke Sully’s heart to see Sam go down the path that he knew the kid didn’t want, but Sully had to respect his wishes. He wasn’t needed. 

He moved on to the next kids.

• • •

Decades later, after one of Sully’s proteges had died while he hadn’t been paying attention and he had moved to a management position rather than being on the field, he found Sam again and had asked for his help.

He knew that Sam’s brother, Dean, thought he was weird. Not just weird because of the way he dressed, nor because of his excessively vivacious personality, but mostly because of the way he treated Sam. Was was a grown man, now. Sam was taller than he was, more built than he was, probably smarter than he was. Sully was just the same old Sully, albeit a bit sadder (but good at hiding it—Sam was like that, too). And yet, Sully couldn’t help but feel protective over this grown man. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, Sam was nine years old and had hung off the beds of a motel room with him. Sam had needed him then. Sully couldn’t just _stop_. Once his kid, always his kid, is what Sully always said. He would always want to be strong for Sammy. It’s who he was. 

The offer he had made Reese—letting her kill him if it made her feel better—it didn’t just apply to her. Obviously, not every one of his kids wanted to kill him. Not every one of them would have _needed_ to kill him. What mattered was that he would do anything for them. Even if it meant something bad would happen to him. It was in his being to make sure they got what was best for them. Whatever’s best for the kid—that was his other motto. 

He parted ways with Sam (and Dean) as friends. He found it unlikely that he would ever see him again. Pity, because he liked the new Sam better than he liked the one he had met back in 1992 (not that he disliked that one). 

“Ever think. . .” Sam had said, “maybe you’re a hero to me?” 

Sully used to consider it to be one of his greatest failures that Sam had turned to hunting. But when he looked at the grown man in front of him, he no longer saw the sad, young boy who had needed a friend those many years ago. 

Instead, he saw a hero.

He moved on to the next kid.

**Author's Note:**

> A Brief Explanation 
> 
> A different take on the song fic: this fic is based on Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen & When A Man Loves A Woman by Percy Sledge but doesn’t have sections that conform to the lyrics of the song. It’s more of a vibe thing for me. The first song gives me such a nostalgic feeling that I think Sully experiences when he looks at Sam and thinks back to when he first met him. The second song is just about how when someone loves someone they would do anything for them, no matter how bad, and would also not care about the wrong they’re doing (not that people should excuse someone’s wrongs even if they love them). But I think that’s what Sully does. He wants the best for the kids he helps, and he will, by any means, help them achieve that, even if it means they do bad things to get there. 
> 
> Super short because I couldn't think of any ideas. I'd love to hear constructive criticism :) Thanks for reading.


End file.
